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Copyrights reserved by the author. If you are in doubt, please click on 'Copyrights' and read the details. Earth Woman continued This poorly-aimed swing probably saved Janus' life as the next cutting stroke, delivered just a fraction of a second after the first, by another attacking Hoojan, was meant to cleave the Earthman's head from his body, but the cartwheel movement saved Janus from decapitation. Instead, the blow meant to take the man's life, severed his left arm just below the shoulder. A fire of pain flashed through Janus' mind and had he not been so refreshed he would have passed out. He used his powers of concentration to fight against the agony, subdued it, and pressed a button on his borrowed harness. Instantly Janus' wings beat with tremendous speed. His downward plunge stopped and he began to regain altitude. His right hand had already found, and drawn, the sword at his hip and there were few swordsmen in the Universe who could match the Earthman's skill. A Hoojan warrior, over-confident because of Janus' injury, and over-anxious to kill the interloper, placed himself within easy reach of the Earth agent's sword. Janus swung his broadsword, evaded the blade, thrust out to block his blow, and struck the Hoojan in the chest. As Janus continued to gain height, he saw the bird-creature plummet towards the ground. Now Janus had regained the altitude at which he had being flying prior to being attacked and he looked about for the rest of his adversaries. The remaining Hoojans had scattered; two of them seemed to have left the battle area, but the rest were winging their way towards the Earthman from nine different directions! Janus hovered, apparently undecided as to which direction he should seek to find escape. The Hoojans, sensing an easy victory, increased their speed as they charged towards their outnumbered victim. Their swords were upraised, ready to strike and their beaks were open, expectantly. Suddenly, when the Hoojans were almost within reach of him, Janus pressed one of the buttons on his harness and rose rapidly above the charging Hoojans. Too late, they realized the trick that had been played upon them, but could not pause their headlong flight, despite much frantic wing-flapping and arm-waving on their part. With a bone-jarring crash, the slow-witted Hoojans smashed into one another. In a tangled mass of arms, legs, wings and swords they tumbled, stunned, over and over, towards the ground, several hundred metres below. Janus searched the sky about him. He was out of immediate danger. No other Hoojans sought to take his life but there, flapping rapidly into the distance, were two more Hoojan warriors, obviously extremely anxious to put as much distance between themselves, and this seemingly invincible, Earthman as they could. Despite the pain in his left shoulder and the weakness that he felt from loss of blood, Janus gave chase after the rapidly diminishing bird-men. They were the only clue left, on this deadly planet that could lead him to a successful completion of his mission. Across the empty, endless, red Hoojan plain the chase led. Janus had one major advantage over those he was pursuing: he was somewhat smaller and lighter than were the Hoojans. This meant that he could fly faster than could they. Besides, now that he was flying much closer to the two fleeing bird-creatures, Janus could see that they were burdened by some heavy object. This also increased the Earthman's advantage. A wave of nausea passed over Janus, dizziness that was born of pain and the loss of blood. He turned his mind to fighting the weakness, momentarily overcame it, and continued with his quest. Ahead of him, Janus could see that the two Hoojans still shared the burden that slowed them down. What was it they so desperately wished to avoid having him possess? Janus' artificial heart almost skipped a beat. Could it be that which he sought? Could he, at last, have found, almost by accident, that which he had been sent to Hooja to locate and bring back to Earth? It seemed impossible that Fate could have played so easily into his hands. Yet, he must believe the evidence of his own eyes. Janus flew as close to the two as he dared. He altered the beat of his wings so that he could climb to a position of advantage above the Hoojans. Then he attacked. The first Hoojan fell instantly, a victim of the Earthman's keen blade. The bird-man did not even have a chance to unsheathe his own sword before he was diving to his death on the ground below. This left the last Hoojan bearing the sole weight of the burden. Janus could easily see now that it was a figure, and that the figure was that of a girl. It was she whom he sought! Realizing that his end was near, the Hoojan dropped the girl and immediately turned on Janus, but the Earthman was not to be cheated of the successful completion of his task, especially as it was so close to fulfillment. With one mighty sweep of his sword, Janus snapped the Hoojan's blade and at the same time drove the edge of his weapon through the creature's neck, cleaving the head from the body. Headless, the purple, winged body fluttered about aimlessly. Janus did not even pause to note the effect of his last blow. He sheathed his own sword and dropped like a stone after the falling girl. There would be only one chance to save her and Janus was handicapped by the fact that he now had only one arm with which to catch her. He could not afford to miss for the fate of the Earth depended on his being successful! Janus plummeted towards the red Hoojan plain, all thoughts of his own safety thrust aside, in his desperate effort to save the girl. Would he be in time to save her from death, and the human race from extinction? With only a metre to spare, Janus swooped upon the unconscious girl and made a desperate lunge at the material of her gown. His fingers grabbed at the cloth-like metallic dress, and held. As he had been falling even faster than the girl, Janus was not dashed to the ground by the sudden arrest of the girl's fall, instead, he continued to fly parallel to the plain, but only centimeters above it. Now, the extra weight of her slender body began to tell on his waning strength. Janus alighted in the red dust, his task almost completed as, all that remained, was to return the girl to his superior, the Director of Earth Security. At that point, with complete success almost within his grasp, Janus lost consciousness. His drained body could no longer cope with the loss of so much blood and he fell to the ground, the girl still tightly cradled in his one remaining arm. **** Janus knew nothing then of the teleportation back to Earth. Thankfully, the girl had been teleported, too, as is any object being held by a person transported. Both arrived safely at Janus' headquarters, beneath the sculpture of the saintly woman and the innocent child. Again the images crept from their hiding places and Janus' mind lived again those previous experiences that he could never recall while conscious, and in his dreams Janus thought that he heard voices; voices he would not remember when he emerged from the op room and the indoctrination. "How bad is he this time?" The chill in the Director's voice was strangely absent for a change, but the tone was overlooked by the medicos, who were too busy, examining their patient, to notice trivialities. "He's lost an arm, Sir, and a lot of blood," replied Medico 302, without looking up from his work. "Can you replace it?" asked the voice that went with the cold, harsh, grey eyes and thin lips. "He's a valuable agent, you know." "We're going to try the new artificial arm, Sir. It can be grafted to the shoulder stump, and the recipient will never know the difference." "Very good, Medico 302. Proceed!" There was a pause. "What about the girl?" "She's fine. Sir," answered the medico. "She's in indoctrination now, and when she emerges she won't remember a thing." "Good!" It was almost a grunt. The Director's voice was beginning to adopt its usual tone. "Good. Treat her well, Medico. Remember, she's the only female left alive on this planet. Without her the human race would eventually die. She is mankind's only hope for continued survival. The Hoojans knew this when they kidnapped her. "We may be able to replace worn-out parts to an existing body, but we can't create life artificially, as yet, despite all the advances we've made with cloning." There was just the slightest touch of sadness in the Director's voice. There was another pause. "How long will Philk be in repair?" The harshness and chill had returned completely to the Director's voice. "About two hours, Sir." This, still without Medico 302 taking his eyes from the operation, now in progress. "That long!" The voice had a slight trace of irritation. The Director was not a man to be kept waiting. "When you've finished, send him to me. I've another important assignment for him to tackle." The screen went blank, leaving the medicos to complete their work.
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